Intertwined
by Real.Smile
Summary: When challenges arise and the gloom consumes you, it's good to know there's someone who is willing to take the twisted path through the shadows with you, especially when your paths are so intricately intertwined. Loyalty runs deep, even in Slytherin house. Rewrite of Betrothed in Darkness. Loosely follows the sixth book and movie.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** Hello! So this is a revamp and rewrite to my story that I finished a few years back called _Betrothed in Darkness._ I really loved the story when I was writing it, but I don't think I really knew what I wanted from it or how to write it all that well. It's one of the first stories that I finished and that I was satisfied with. However, as I look back on it I see so much potential and how it could be better written and have a better plot and all that jazz. So I'm going to try again. Some of the chapters will just be edited a little, while others will be new additions or completely edited. So here's the revamp of _Betrothed in Darkness._ I hope you all will love this edited story as much as I do.

* * *

 _Summer 1996_

 _The Malfoy Manor_

A man met her at the door of the Malfoy Manor. He'd opened the door and looked down at the girl before him, placing her at around sixteen or so. Her skin was dark as cocoa and her eyes the very same color. She stood at a solid five foot five inches, however, compared to the man that was towering over her in the doorway she felt much smaller than that. Her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail and fell about an inch on to her shoulder blade. She was dressed in all black, like all the others that had come to the door. After a moment, he allowed her to enter, and then guided her towards the hallway. The hallway he took her down was wide, long, dimly lit, and decorated in a lavish manner. A lush carpet covered the stone floor that had disappeared when they exited the foyer. The eyes of the pale faced portraits on the wall followed the two dressed in black as they made their way to the drawing room. The man stopped a few feet away from the door and gestured to the heavy door. Assuming that meant she'd have to go alone the rest of the way. After a short pause, the girl pulled the bronze door handle.

The drawing room was silent. The room's usual furnishings were pushed against the wall without care. The people that sat in the room watched her from their places at the long table in the center of the room; their eyes followed her as she approached the pale figure sitting at the head of the table. She walked slowly allowing her eyes to adjust to the dim light admitted by the dying flame in the marble fireplace.

"That's close enough," a high, clear voice said from the head of the table.

The girl stopped and bowed to the owner of the voice. "Yes, My Lord."

"Miss. Zabini, I must admit that it's a surprise to see you here. I never thought that I'd see you kneeling before me," the pale white skinned man said quietly from his chair. Two of the younger people at the table exchanged looks. "However, I do admit that I am impressed with you. You will be a nice addition to the cause. That is of course, if you meet my standards." One unnaturally long, thin finger pointed towards the door and it swung open quickly. "Mr. Flint, bring in Ms. Cuffe," he demanded in a high voice. A moment later, there was a middle aged brunette woman shoved into the room and the door slammed shut behind her. Flint held the woman's wrist as he guided her to a spot near the Dark Lord. The tall man released his hold on the woman, and she crumpled to the ground with a soft _thud_. "Thank you, Flint, you may take your seat next to the young Mr. Malfoy." The young man took his respective seat, and his eyes too fell on the girl.

From the corner of her eye, she could see 'the young Mr. Malfoy' as the Dark Lord had referred to him sitting next to her brother, Blaise Zabini. The girl could just barely make out the expression etched on to her brother's usually stoic face. In the darkness, she could see the concern in his features. Without turning her head, she strained to make eye contact with him, but her attempts were in vain.

"This is Ms. Claudia Cuffe, she's a writer for the _Daily Prophet._ A woman that truly doubted my return," he allotted time for murmurs of disapproval. "She said that there was 'no possible way that the Dark Lord could have returned'," he said quoting her directly. The pale skinned man pulled his wand from his robes and it pointed at her. Without the Dark Lord uttering a word, the woman started to scream. Her cries were blood curling, and the young girl flinched at the sound. The Dark Lord dropped the curse and spoke to the writer, "Do you doubt me now?" he hissed. The woman whimpered in response, shaking her head franticly. "Ms. Zabini, I don't believe in letting nonbelievers live. Do you?"

"No, my Lord," she replied keeping her voice even despite the fact that her hand was shaking, even if it was ever so slightly.

"Well, take your wand and do what needs to be done."

"Yes, my Lord," the girl said. Swiftly, she stood from her kneeling position and reached into her robes taking a moment to steady her hand. As she pulled her wand from her robes pocket and started towards the woman, the Dark Lord snatched it from her hand, "Ebony with a Pogrebin hair core; rare indeed. This isn't an Olivander's wand."

"No, my Lord; it's from Alivan's in Wales." The Dark Lord handed her wand back to her and she took it, before continuing her journey to the woman. When she got close she could hear her whimpering softly. Her brown hair was matted with blood, and dried blood was on her face. Her nose was at a strange angle and her lips were swollen. Obviously a victim of torture.

"Do what you please with her," the Dark Lord said from behind the girl.

She nodded and pointed her wand at the woman before her. She thought angry thoughts, and then shouted, "Cruico." The woman screamed in pain again, squirming on the ground. The young Zabini dropped the curse and looked at the woman, and the woman stared back in utter surprise. She couldn't believe who her assassin was; a sixteen-year-old girl was sent to kill her. Behind her, from what seemed like a million miles away, the Dark Lord cackled, bringing her back to the task at hand. Feeling the tiniest bit of sympathy for the woman, the girl gathered the courage to say the two fatal words: "Avada Kedavra." There was a blinding flash of green light that collided with the victim's body. The body was launched into the wall behind it and then fell to the ground, as limp as a rag doll. The girl lowered her wand.

"Very good, Ms. Zabini. No hesitation when killing; it will save your life in a battle," the Dark Lord said coolly. "I'll accept you as a spy at Hogwarts. I've been told that Dumbledore is going to hire an old friend of mine, Horace Slughorn as a Professor. I'd like you to get close to him, as I did. He likes the intelligent ones. Do that for me?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"This meeting is dismissed; we will meet again at my call."

As the girl started away from the Dark Lord, her new master, he touched her shoulder. Even through her robes she could feel how cold and heavy his hand was. His touch sent a chill through her entire body. The young Zabini turned her dark brown eyes up to his cat-like slits. "Don't let me down, Ms. Zabini."

"I won't, my Lord."

He nodded to her and then dismissed her. As she walked out of the door, she felt a hand gently grab her wrist. Startled, she turned to see who had grabbed her. The offender was her brother, Blaise Zabini, his dark eyes were full of worry. She easily removed his hand from her wrist and gave it a brief squeeze. However, the concern seemed to intensify. The fact that her hand was shaking again probably did nothing to calm his worries. Beside her brother, stood his close friend and resident of the Manor, Draco Malfoy. His grey eyes were cold as usual, but there was something hiding behind them. Maybe worry that he shared with her brother.

Before any of the three could speak, Draco's parents and the Zabini's, well their mother and her newest husband, had appeared before them. His parents, as usual looked tired. Having the Dark Lord living in your home couldn't be easy. Her mother on the other hand, was poised and calm. There was no true expression on her angular face. Her new husband, husband number seven, look fairly unconcerned with what was happening. "May I have a word with you two?" Lucius Malfoy asked. The female Zabini pointed to herself and then Blaise did the same. Lucius shook his head. "No, her and my son," he corrected. "Come."

The two followed Lucius and his wife, and her guardians to the Malfoy study. The door was mahogany with a bronze handle and heavy like the door that led to the Drawing Room. The group entered the messy study slowly. Mr. Malfoy took the seat behind the mahogany desk and his wife stood behind the tall black leather chair. Ms. Zabini and the young Malfoy took the two seats in front of the desk, also black leather.

"Adrienne," Lucius started, his eyes falling on the dark skinned girl in front of him. "Draco," he continued as he turned his eyes to his son. "We, your mother, Kya, Dante, and I, have come to an agreement. Adrienne, you know that your family is losing some stature in the Wizarding world. Draco, our family has lost some of its stature, as well. All due to the association of our families with the Dark Lord. However, both of the houses, still have more stature than any other pure-blood family in the European Wizarding world. So in order to get more power, to keep our names in the mind of the Dark Lord, the two houses shall become one. Draco, you are now betrothed to Miss. Adrienne Zabini."

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I normally do my AN's here. However, I figured that it was important to do the one at the top. This chapter isn't a huge change from the original chapter. Say hi if you're a returning reader. I'd love to know that you all followed me over! If you're a new reader welcome! Let me know what you think!

 **~ Nikki**


	2. Chapter 2

A soft melody resonated through the Manor. Her fingers skillfully stroked the black and white keys, climbing over one another without hesitation. Before her was a sheet of music, however she'd stopped reading it long ago. In fact, she was no longer playing that piece. Her brown eyes were not even focused on the notes on the page.

As she played, she heard footsteps entering the room that housed her piano and approach her. However, she never stopped playing. Instead, she turned her gaze upwards towards a mirror that was placed behind the piano and in perfect position to view the doorway.

Suddenly, a rolled up piece of parchment dropped on to the keyboard and into the path of her nimble fingers causing her to stop playing. The pianist turned towards the person who'd caused her to stop laying. Her brown eyes settled on the offender as she waited for the conversation to begin. However, the offender said nothing. Instead, they continued to look at one another in silence. Finally, she turned her attention to the roll of parchment on the keyboard, assuming that this was that she was supposed to do. Gently, she unrolled it.

 _Muggles Still Reeling from Destruction of Millennium Bridge_

Brown eyes scanned the article that followed the headline. It outlined the plan that the muggles had to fix the bridge. They planned to make the next one a memorial to those that lost their lives when it 'mysteriously collapsed'. Eyewitnesses couldn't explain what had happened. They all kept saying that there were several thin black clouds that circled around the bridge and then it started to wobble. It didn't just collapse, it twisted in its frame. It bended and then the wires snapped and it collapsed. They told this to the Prophet interviewers because the muggle paper had not listened to them. At the end of the article was one final sentence, stating that the memory of the muggles interviewed had their memory of the event wiped clean.

"Yes?" the pianist questioned.

"How many more attacks will there be on the Muggles?"

Her brown eyes met a pair of identical brown eyes. The eyes of her twin brother, Blaise Zabini. His voice was even and his face emotionless as he held his sister's gaze.

Adrienne turned her attention back to the piano and positioned her fingers over the keys. She began playing a gentle melody, one very different from the piece she had been playing before. "Blaise, I don't know," she replied finally as her fingers easily danced on the keys. "I doubt that that attack was planned by the Dark Lord himself. It seems like a petty crime in the grand scheme of things, doesn't it? I doubt that he approved that."

"Adrienne."

"There's nothing to discuss, Blaise," her voice was even. "Why the deep concern with the Muggle population?"

"A concern for you, not the muggle's. You will be at his beck and call, Adrienne. He could ask you to do anything at any given moment," Blaise stated, as if Adrienne was not already aware of what her actions meant. "I do not think that you thought this through as well as you should have."

"Well, that doesn't matter now, does it?" Adrienne replied a little louder than she had intended, causing her to press on a key harder than she'd meant.

Blaise's dark eyebrow arched, "I suppose that it doesn't."

They were quiet for a moment as she started to play again. This time it was a faster, more complex melody. In some parts of the song, her fingers stumbled over one another getting caught and tangled together as she played, causing the song to lose its tempo in some places.

"Just know," he started quietly.

"I know, Blaise."

There was no need for him to complete his statement. She knew exactly what he was going to say.

* * *

The silence was heavy in the Manor. This was quite possibly the first day in the entire summer that the Malfoy family had their Manor to themselves. Having the Darkest Wizard the world has ever known bunking in your home was far from ideal. There would be nights when the Dark Lord would not rest. When he would sit in the drawing room with other Death Eaters planning. Often times they would choose the middle of the night to torture people. Their screams would echo throughout the Manor making sleep hard, if not impossible, to find.

Tonight, it wasn't the pained screams of the people being held hostage in the Manor's Dungeons that kept him awake. Something, heavier than the silence in his home weighed on him.

It was 2 in the morning, at least that was what the ringing of the Grandfather clock on the first floor informed. It was two am and he had not been to sleep. Instead, he had been sitting in the library scanning the book that he had plucked from the shelf earlier. He'd planned on reading the book in its entirety during the night, however he was unsuccessful. He'd managed to get through the first several chapters with no problem, but as the night wore on and the silence grew heavier he found it more and more difficult to focus.

Draco Malfoy flipped the book shut. A headache was beginning to form at his temples, probably from straining his eyes reading or the stress of what the Dark Lord had asked for him. He brought his hand to his temple and started to massage the area, hoping that it would ease the irritation. However, it felt as if he had only made it worse. The pressure from the outside, did nothing to ease the internal pressure.

The Dark Lord had a task for him. A task that had to be completed in order for him to succeed.

" _Draco," the Dark Lord's voice called to him as he drew his wand away._

 _The Malfoy heir had been kneeling before him with his left arm extended towards him. He'd just gone through the short, but excruciatingly painful task of receiving the Dark Mark. The ink had burned into his skin, rising to the surface and blackening his pale skin. Now, the skin around the mark on his arm was reddened, swelling from the ink being injected under his skin._

 _Draco raised his grey eyes upward towards the man who'd called his name. Making eye contact with the Dark Lord was something that he enjoyed. His slit like eyes made him very uncomfortable. Nonetheless, he still brought his eyes to the Dark Lords._

" _I have a task for you," he told Draco bluntly. "There are two people standing in the way of me having control of this World. One of which, I will handle myself." It was obvious to Draco, and the other occupants of the room, as to whom he was referring. The one that he would handle himself was Harry potter. The second, Draco had an idea as to who it was, and he hoped to Merlin that he was wrong. "However, the other is someone that I feel you can handle, Mr. Malfoy." The Dark Lord paused as he gathered his thoughts. "I require you to kill the Headmaster of Hogwarts."_

 _Draco tried his best to conceal his surprise, hoping that it did not show on his face. The Dark Lord was entrusting him with such a task?_

" _You will not fail me, will you, Mr. Malfoy?"_

 _Draco stood from his kneeling position and bowed to his Master. "No, my Lord. I will not."_

The conversation played in his head over and over.

Why him?

What reason did the Dark Lord have for selecting him of all others?

The more he thought on the topic, the more his head hurt. Draco stood, dropping the book he had been reading into the chair, and started out of the library. Perhaps tonight was not the best night to try to figure out how to complete a nearly impossible task. An impossible task that needed to be completed; now more than ever.

A few days ago, the Ministry had come pounding on the door of the Manor with several Aurors. The reason for their visit was simple and of no surprise to the Malfoy family, if they were honest with themselves. They were there to arrest Lucius Malfoy for connection with the Dark Wizard Voldemort. Lucius went quietly, trying to maintain as much to his dignity a possible, but not before making sure that Draco understood how much was riding on his completion of the task the Voldemort have given him. If Draco were to fail, his father would remain locked away in Azkaban. However, if he was successful the Malfoys would once again be in the good graces of the Dark Lord.

Because having to kill a powerful wizard at the age of sixteen wasn't enough for Draco to worry about. Now if he failed he not only failed a powerful dark wizard, who would more than likely kill him, he also failed his family.

The pounding in his head increased as he made his way down the dark corridor and to his bedroom. He would find a way to succeed in his given task.

It just wouldn't be tonight.

 **A/N:** Hello! So this chapter is completely new, so I hope that new and old readers enjoyed it! Thank you for the reviews I have received. Welcome back, **Emmetluver2010** , **Brook-Lucas-Fan-23** , and **guest**. I'm so happy that you all came over to the new story. I hope that the edits don't change your liking of the story. I'll try to update once a week, the main reason that I added this chapter to soon was because the first chapter had minor edits to it and I wanted to get something new out there. I like this chapter because it gives you a feel for how they are both handling their new roles. It's not easy being sixteen, but it's even harder when you're working for an incredibly dark wizard. Welcome, **dmigodfan1** and **The Touch of Love**! I'm glad you've hopped on the _Intertwined_ train. Let me know what you all think of this chapter with a review. Or you can just say hi!

 **~ Nikki**


	3. Chapter 3

_September 1st, 1996_

The scarlet engine sped down the track, carrying the most precious cargo in all of England: Hogwarts Students. Some were walking about the train looking for an open compartment, old friends, new friends, or a missing pet. Others were inside of the compartments laughing and reviewing their summer adventures with friends or nervously holding their first conversations with people that they hoped would turn into their friends. Then there were the people that were reading, mostly first years that were too nervous to speak to anyone else, or an older child that needed to get ahead in class on Monday.

Four sixth year Slytherins, two girls and two boys, sat at a table near the front of the train; being in the back of the scarlet steam engine was entirely too noisy. That was where all the nervous first years taking their first tries at magic were. The quartet of Slytherins were sitting as closely as the table between them would allow and whispering. The two on the outside were keeping a watchful eye out for ease droppers. On the outside sat a blond, very tired looking Draco Malfoy, and next to him was the dark skinned, Blaise Zabini. Across from Blaise was the pug faced, Pansy Parkinson, and next to her the cocoa toned, Adrienne Zabini.

"I don't understand," Pansy whined for what seemed like the thousandth time in the past half an hour. Her brow was creased as she tried to wrap her mind around this news. She had heard about Draco's recent engagement to Adrienne over the summer vacation, but she had refused to believe it. However, when she casually, or at least what she considered to be casually, brought it up in conversation they confirmed the story. "Why her?"

Adrienne, who'd been lazily gazing out of the window and not doing a very good job of playing lookout, shifted her dark brown eyes to the girl beside her. Pansy was taking the news poorly, just as she had expected her too. However, at this point, she was starting to sound like a broken record. She'd been asking why and how questions for the better part of a half an hour. Trying to 'understand' why Draco was now engaged to Adrienne and not herself. It quickly went from pathetic to annoying. The other three occupants of the table had tried their hardest to move on past the string of conversation many times, only to have her draw them back into her lack of understanding of the situation.

Adrienne turned her gaze to Draco, who had his grey eyes fixed at his hands which were folded on his lap. "Oi," she called to him quietly. He brought he gaze to meet hers. "Shouldn't you be heading to your prefect meeting?" she questioned softly so not to draw Pansy's attention to the fact that neither of them were listening to her.

Draco shrugged and gave a noncommittal grunt.

"I just don't get why it's _her?_ " Pansy's voice continued.

Adrienne clenched her fist on the table and turned to the pug faced girl next to her. Her patience had clearly run out with her. "What is wrong with me, Pansy?" she snarled. Pansy blinked several times in response.

Before Draco could step in to say something to them, because he did look as if he had indeed wanted to, a third year Hufflepuff approached the table. After a moment of not being acknowledged, he cleared his throat and Adrienne turned her attention to him. "Yeah?" she said. The boy handed her a stroll tied with a violet ribbon and one to her brother, before rushing away from the table.

"What is it?" Draco questioned lazily.

"An invitation," Adrienne responded. "Ms. Zabini, I would be delighted if you would join me for a bit of lunch in Compartment C. Sincerely, Professor H. E. F. Slughorn," she read. "Guess, we'd better go," she said after she, Draco, and Blaise exchanged glances.

Adrienne stood as Draco did, so that he could let Blaise out. "You should go to the meeting, Draco," she told him as she reached up to flatten the collar of his suit jacket. His grey gaze met hers and Adrienne took an involuntary step back away from him. The intensity of his gaze had startled her, but let her know that it would be in her best interest to quickly drop the line of conversation she was attempting to pursue. She folded her hands behind her back as Blaise stepped out of the booth.

She'd expected him to sink back into his seat, instead he'd remained standing and pulled his Prefect's badge from his breast pocket and pinned it to the front of his jacket. "Come along, Parkinson. We have a meeting to get to," he told her. Adrienne looked away from her hands and saw that his grey eyes were on her again, but before she could respond Pansy had stood and forced her way into the space between them. "Crabbe, Goyle, make sure no one takes our seats while we are gone," Draco demanded.

With that the four of them left their table and made their way down the aisle of the train. The Slytherins easily slid through the crowd of students looking for the lunch trolley, no one wanted to cross them. With Draco and Pansy heading the pack, in their Prefect badges on, no one dared to stand in their way. Soon they were at compartment C, the one that the twins had been summoned to. The group gave a brief goodbye, before Blaise and Adrienne opened the compartment door and Draco and Pansy continued down the corridor. From the corner of her eye, she saw Pansy take hold of Draco's arm.

"Mr. and Miss. Zabini, I assume?" the man said to her, as he shook her hand, then her brother's. "I'm Professor Slughorn." Adrienne nodded and smiled at the people in the compartment. "Do you know everyone here?

"I do, that's Marcus Belby, Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Harry Potter, and Cormac McLaggen," Adrienne stated.

"Good, good, do have a seat," Slughorn demanded.

Not wanting to sit by the blood traitor, she took a seat between Cormac and Belby, who proceeded to chock on a piece of pheasant that he was trying to swallow to quickly in order to answer a question that Slughorn posed to him. A smirk crossed her lips and she chuckled a little, however covered with a cough when Slughorn looked at her. Blaise, who was also smirking, took a seat next to Belby.

Over a lunch of pheasant, salad, fruit, and tea, the Professor questioned the students and told them of his life in retirement. Apparently, he backpacked around the United States, only they don't call it backpacking there. He said it was very strange over there, but he'd like to go and visit again. In fact, he was trying to get a trip cleared with Dumbledore to take a few students to some of the major places in the country. However, with the ever-present threat of another Wizarding War, he figured that now wasn't the best time. Then he spoke of all the students that he taught and how if they were lucky, he'd be telling kids about them next year.

The grown man swooned over Potter, worshiping the ground that he walked on. Blaise, unable to control his dislike for Potter snorted while he was talking about himself, which was punished by a sharp faze from Ginny. Slughorn didn't really seem to notice, and went back to praising Harry. Eventually, he started up on some Quidditch player and Adrienne zone him out, until he dismissed them. Adrienne smiled and exited the compartment, her brother closed the door behind her.

They made their way back down the corridor with the same ease as before. However, the two of them took a slow pace. Blaise's hands pushed into the pockets of his black pants and her arms crossed over her chest.

"That was interesting," Blaise commented lightly. Adrienne scoffed. "What did you gather from meeting him?"

Adrienne shrugged. "He likes powerful people, or at least people connected to power, and those that have lengthly family lines or that have keen intellect. Like he's collecting them or something." She bit down on her bottom lip as they walked. "It shouldn't be too difficult to get close to him, the only person really in the way is Potter."

Soon enough they were back at their table where Draco and Pansy were already sitting. Pansy had taken Blaise's seat next to Draco, and had taken to informing Draco about her summer vacation. It was clear to Adrienne that Draco was not listening, but Pansy didn't seem to mind. Blaise slid into the booth across from Pansy and Adrienne sat on the outside across from Draco. The young Malfoy, who'd been looking down at his Prefect badge on the table when the twins arrived, looked up at her as she settled into the seat.

"What did Slughorn want?" he asked her.

"Trying to kiss up to well-connected people; it didn't work out to well. He had McLaggen from Gryffindor, Belby from Ravenclaw, Longbottom, that Weasley girl, and Potter," Adrienne answered lazily.

"People with ministry connections and Potter and Longbottom," Draco drawled. "What does he want with him?" Everyone shrugged, honestly not knowing what anyone would want with Longbottom. "And the Weasley girl! What's so special about her?" Pansy reached over to stroke the back of Draco's hand, in order to soothe him. Draco allowed it.

"A lot of boys like her," Pansy said, looking around the table insecurely to see if anyone would say anything or express an argument. Pansy met Adrienne's dark brown eyes and she quickly pulled her hand off of the young Malfoy's and folded her hands in her lap.

"Even Blaise finds her attractive," Adrienne added, "And we all know how difficult it is to please him."

Blaise denied that he found Ginny attractive, stating that she was a blood traitor and he wanted nothing to do with her. They continued to speak about Slughorn's meeting and the people that were there, and how the Prefects meeting was. Pansy informed the Zabini's that there were to be Aurors station around Hogwarts for security, and that there would be luggage checks upon arrival at the school.

As they talked Draco stood to pull something out of his satchel and as he did a cloud of black suddenly appeared in their train car. It quickly overtook the car, darkening it. As quickly as it appeared it started to fade away.

"What was that?" Draco asked as he looked about the train's car, whatever he went to retrieve forgotten. "Blaise?"

"Don't know," the dark skinned boy replied.

"Calm down boys. It's probably just some first year," Pansy assured. When Draco didn't return to his seat, she spoke again. "Come on, we'll be at Hogwarts soon."

The blond sunk into his seat across from Adrienne and next to Pansy as a dark look crossed through his eyes. She wasn't sure if either of the other two saw this look in his eyes but it was highly unsettling.

"Hogwarts. What a pathetic excuse for a school. I think I'd pitch myself off the Astronomy Tower if I thought I had to continue on for another two years," Draco stated.

Pansy, who had started to play in Draco's hair, stopped her actions suddenly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Draco shrugged as he made eye contact with Adrienne. "Let's just say I don't think you'll be seeing me wasting my time in Charms Class next year." Blaise snorted as Pansy looked over at him. "Amused, Blaise?" Draco questioned as he turned his gaze from Adrienne. "We'll see just who's laughing in the end."

Blaise turned his gaze out the window. Adrienne watched as Draco's gaze turned upward and a curious expression played on his face. Adrienne looked upward as well, trying to see what it was that he was looking at. All that was above them was a small black satchel.

"What is it?" she questioned. He shook his head and turned his eyes away from the rack above her. It was clear that she would not be receiving an answer to her question anytime soon. Instead, she lay her head on her brother's shoulder as the four of them lapsed into a silence.

Soon the train began to a slow to a stop as it neared the Hogsmeade station. Pansy excused herself from the table, to go and fulfill her duties as Prefect, expecting Draco to follow her, but he did the exact opposite. For a moment she looked torn between going back to him and going to her duties. In the end, her duties won. When the train lurched to a complete stop, Goyle and Crabbe muscled their way through the crowd of second years, pushing them aside, Blaise followed. Draco turned to Adrienne. He was quiet for a few moments as the compartment started to clear. He looked as though he was going to say something to her, but when he didn't, she reached up on to the rack and pulled her satchel down.

"Should we go?" she questioned as her brown eyes met his grey ones.

"You go. I want to check something," he told her.

"I'll wait outside," she responded, and before he could protest, she left and exited the train.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hey there! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, there were only a few edits here and there with this chapter. Let me know what you think with a review. Feel free just to say, 'hey, that was great' or you can offer constructive criticism, the keyword there being constructive. I'd love to hear from everyone.

 **~ Nikki**


	4. Chapter 4

Adrienne leaned against the wrought iron fence opposite the scarlet steam engine, crossed her arms over her chest, and sighed. The curtains on the car of the train she and her friends had been on were simultaneously pulled down, startling Adrienne. However, she brushed the thought from her mind, seeing as it was none of her business. The Slytherin sixth year closed her dark brown eyes and exhaled slowly. She allowed her thoughts to travel to the task that she had been assigned. After meeting with Slughorn, she realized that she would not have to manipulate him in any manner to get to know him, whatever that meant. He already liked her, seeing as he sent a student to come and search for her. That pushed one of the harder parts of task the out of the way. She didn't have to worry about getting him to like her, everything after that was simple.

"Addy," he called to her using a nickname that only he, her brother, and a select few people dared to utter.

The chocolate skinned girl opened her dark eyes and pushed herself off the fence behind her, pulling her satchel higher up on her shoulder. Draco hadn't stopped walking when he got off the train, or when he called out to her, so he was a good distance ahead of her. Adrienne, who usually took small quick steps, had to take larger, longer steps to catch up with him. When she finally caught up to him, he said nothing.

She did not dare ask what he did on the train, and he wouldn't tell her until he wanted her to know, so the two sixth years walked to the school, seeing as they'd missed the carriages. Draco's hands were in his pocket as he walked next to the girl, his grey eyes trained to the brightly lit castle in front of them. He was thinking about something and who was she to interrupt his train of thought.

"Where have you been?" Professor Snape snarled as the two approached the gates. The dark cloaked Professor stopped inches away from the gate and tapped the padlock once, and stepped away as the chains snaked back into the lock.

"Taking care of business," Draco said. Adrienne sighed and shrugged her shoulders when Snape turned his eyes to her. She reached out and grabbed Draco's arm and pulled him through the gates roughly.

"Sorry for the inconvenience," Adrienne apologized.

Professor Flitwick stood at the gate with a list, "Names?"

Adrienne narrowed her dark brown eyes, wondering why the Professor whom they'd had class with for five years was asking their name. It was then that she remembered that Pansy had said they were upping security. "Zabini, Adrienne and Malfoy, Draco," Adrienne said as she watched the small man check their names off on the list.

"Nice face, Potter," Draco taunted as he stopped walking to look at Harry.

Adrienne looked over her shoulder, seeing Potter approaching Professor Flitwick with Luna Lovegood. There was blood on his face, dripping down to the front of his shirt, and he looked rather disheveled, his dark hair messier looking than usual and a small crack in the lens of his glasses. Adrienne looked from Draco, who was sneering, and Harry. As she did, she began to piece somethings together, however everything did make sense. She crossed her arms over her chest as the Auror looked through her satchel and when he approved it and placed it with the rest of the belongings going to Slytherin house, she stepped to the side and cast a glance over her shoulder. Draco and Snape were now gazing at one another, having some sort of silent conversation. Finally, Draco left his Professor and moved towards her.

Together, the two entered the castle. Stopping just in the door, Adrienne flourished her wand, her casual black attire being replaced by the Hogwarts uniform and pointed her wand at Draco. His tailored suit was replaced by his standard Hogwarts uniform. Adrienne adjusted her tie, as they walked into The Great Hall, where the sorting had just ending and the hat was speaking about being strong in troubled times. Draco took his usual seat next to Crabbe and Goyle and across from her brother. Adrienne settled into the seat next to her brother.

Blaise leaned over to her and subtly gestured down the table at the new additions to the house. Adrienne let her eyes scan over the new students as they sat munching on the items on their plates. Pansy was talking to one of the boys, but she couldn't exactly make out what she was saying. Knowing Pansy, she was probably going on about how she was a Prefect and what that meant. Adrienne rolled her dark eyes and started to place food on her plate.

"Adrienne," a familiar female voice called to her.

Adrienne looked at the space next to her that had been empty. It was occupied by a brunette of average height and average looking hazel eyes. Melanie King, a girl in her year and her only close friend. Melanie reached over to take something off of Adrienne's plate only to have Adrienne move the plate out of her reach.

"Melanie," Adrienne greeted as she poked her fork into a meatball. "How was your summer?"

"It was fine," she replied. "Not as good as yours, of course." Adrienne's gaze was questioning, urging her to continue. "You and Malfoy?" Melanie's eyebrows wiggled on her forehead. "As your friend, I am upset that I didn't hear it from you."

"Where did you hear it?" Adrienne questioned.

"The Pureblood Wizarding World is small, and getting smaller every day. There are no secrets between us," Melanie said with a shrug.

Of course, she was right. The Pureblood community was continually shrinking, due to the constant addition of mudbloods into their world. Pureblood witches and wizards were starting to marry the mudbloods, thinking of them as their equals. Pureblood family lines were starting to fade away. As a result, the families that remained grew closer. These types of arranged marriages, like the ones between she and Draco, were starting to become more common, although they usually waited until at least one party was seventeen. They were desperate attempts to keep the blood pure.

"The very best of evenings to you!" Dumbledore said as he opened his arms to the entire hall. As he did the Hall started to fill with frantic whispers.

Adrienne turned her eyes away from her plate and towards the front of the room. The Headmaster's right arm was blacked, as if it were dead. Whispers moved across the Great Hall as the students started to point. Dumbledore, never missing a beat, shook his arm and covered the dead flesh with his sleeve. "Nothing to worry about," he said to the Great Hall, and continued with his welcome speech. However, Adrienne didn't dismiss the dead-looking skin on the old man's arm, and when she glanced down the table, she was sure that Draco hadn't missed it, because his steely grey eyes were boring right into her dark brown ones.

Adrienne shifted to the edge of her seat as she watched Draco. He looked like he wanted to stand and leave the Great Hall, however he didn't move, it was like he was frozen in his seat. After a long moment, he relaxed and turned his eyes to the Headmaster. Adrienne followed suit, turning her attention to Dumbledore just as he said, "We are pleased to welcome a new staff member this year, Professor Slughorn" - the fat man from the compartment stood – "as the new Potions master."

Melanie coughed a little as her Pumpkin juice went down the wrong pipe. "Potions; what about Snape?"

"Professor Snape, meanwhile, will take the place of Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor," Dumbledore had to raise his voice to continue over the muttering. More muttering ensued and he knew that speaking at the moment would be pointless. So he gave the student body a moment to voice their surprise.

Adrienne tapped her brother's shoulder and said something to him in a low voice. He then stood and stepped over the bench allowing her to slide across the bench and sit in front of Draco. He then took her seat next to Melanie, who greeted him with a low hello. By the time, he'd looked over at his sister, she was deep in conversation with Draco, using a low voice so that she remained unheard. She was leaning on the table her forearms resting on the edge and she held steady eye contact with Draco. Her lips moved quickly at first, and then more slowly, a sign that her sentences were trailing off at the end. Draco's replies were just as quick, but not as lengthy.

"Looks like Snape finally got his wish," Adrienne said suddenly, signaling that she and Draco's conversation was over.

"That's a good thing for us, right?" Melanie asked. "We won't have that easy passing grade in Potions anymore, but now it'll be in DADA."

"I suppose so," Blaise answered, eying the fork that Draco was levitating with his wand.

Adrienne took the fork from her brother's plate and held it over the pineapple on his plate, "Can I?" she asked quietly, so quietly that she was sure he was the only one that heard her. He nodded and she lowered the fork into the bright yellow fruit and chewed on it as her brother and Melanie continued to talk.

"Eleven," Draco said suddenly and quietly.

Adrienne nodded as Dumbledore dismissed all of the students to their dormitories. In the background, she could hear the clock strike nine o'clock. Adrienne and Melanie excused themselves from the table and then rushed out of the hall just as they had every year since their first year. Of course, in their first year they didn't know what the password was or where exactly the common room was, so they were running about the dungeons before Marcus Flint, a family friend, can to bring them to the right place and tell them the password.

Since then, it was a sort of tradition for the two girls to rush out of the Great Hall when they were dismissed. Mostly, because they didn't want to get caught up in the crowd of students milling around in the corridors and the long lines of first years being escorted around the castle.

When the two reached the wall at the end of the corridor, Adrienne stepped forward and said, "Puer," and then stepped back as the wall opened and revealed the common room to them.

A low-ceilinged, dungeon-like room with greenish lamps and black leather chairs appeared before them. The room had a green tinge to it, seeing as the dorms and the back part of the common room were under the Black Lake. One wall was dominated by a large black marble fireplace with a large painting of the house founder, Salazar Slytherin - dead center above the fire place, and smaller but still large pictures of the other heads of Slytherin house: Professor Snape and Professor Slughorn, where the ones that she could name off the top of her head. Adrienne sighed. This felt like home; more so than her own home did. She'd grown up here; this was her home.

Adrienne and Melanie raced to the black leather sofa towards the back off the common room. This was their favorite spot to sit, because of the window that looked directly into the lake, not over it, but into the lake. There was some sort of charm on the window to keep it from breaking and flooding the Slytherin common room killing them all. If you sat and looked out the window long enough, then you might get lucky and see a merperson swim by or the giant squid. Adrienne and Melanie had yet to spot that latter.

"So what's it like?" Melanie asked as she and Adrienne settled into the leather sofa. The Zabini's eyebrow arched, showing that she didn't understand what she meant. "Being betrothed and all," the girl clarified as the common room slowly started to fill.

Adrienne ran her fingers through her hair as she thought over her friend's question. "It's the same. I mean, he doesn't treat me any different. I think Blaise is a little," the dark skinned girl struggled to find a word that suited her brother's emotion about the topic, "angry, for lack of a better word, about it." She looked over her shoulder and smiled. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear," she drawled as Draco and Blaise sat down on the sofa opposite of the girls.

"Talking about me, Addy?" Blaise questioned.

"What did you do with Pansy?" Adrienne asked changing the subject.

"Told her I was tired of her following me around, so she left with that girl, Taylor, or something," Draco said.

"Taylyn," Melanie corrected.

"Poor Taylyn, she doesn't know what she's in for," Adrienne drawled as she looked down at her nails.

"No one knows what they are in for," drawled Draco.

There was a morbid look exchanged between Adrienne and Draco. Both Blaise and Melanie exchanged looks and sighed. They knew that they were out of the loop on this one. Draco and Adrienne shared something that Mel and Blaise didn't. The Dark Lord's trust; neither of the other two knew how it felt to have someone so powerful and all-knowing trust you so much. The pressure, although she'd never tell anyone, was keeping her up at night. She'd never admit that to anyone though. There were people that had to kill other wizards, by order of the Dark Lord, and they'd competed their task and got to sleep at night. So how could she ever admit that befriending a Professor in the school was keeping her up at night?

* * *

 **A/N:** The password for the Common Room, puer is a geomantic figure that means 'the boy' and refers to male energies, primarily aggression and passion, but also war. I thought it was fitting. Thanks for reading! I look forward to reading you reviews. Also, Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you've enjoyed it.

 **~ Nikki**


	5. Chapter 5

From somewhere in the castle, the clock struck eleven. The sound echoed down the empty corridors of the castle, making its way into the dungeons. Adrienne Zabini looked up at the sounding of the clock as she closed her textbook on her thumb. Gently, she placed the book on her bedside table and brushed her hair behind her ear. The quartet of Slytherins had said their goodnights and made their way to their respective dormitories long ago. Melanie had crawled into bed as soon as they got to the dorm, saying that she would shower in the morning, and fallen into a quiet sleep almost instantly. Pansy, on the other hand, had come up and marched directly to the showers before getting into her bed. Her snoring let Adrienne know that she had fallen asleep. Adrienne, knowing that she was to meet Draco later, decided against sleep and pulled her Advanced Arithmancy Studies textbook from her trunk and started in on the readings. The clock continued to toll as she pulled her shoes on to her feet, grabbed her wand, and quietly left the girls' dormitory.

When she got to the foot of the stairs, she saw Draco leaning against the back of the black leather sofa, dressed again in his black suit. She made her way over to him slowly and pushed her hands into the pockets of her black satin pajama bottoms. Her dark hair was pulled up into a messy bun and her equally dark eyes were tired. "Hello," she said quietly.

"Walk with me," he said in greeting as he made his way towards the wall that was the entrance and exit to the common room.

The betrothed couple walked out of the common room and into the cold dungeon corridor. The dungeon air was freezing. In response to the sudden change in temperature, Adrienne crossed her arms over her chest and rubbed her forearms. She exhaled softly as a chill ran over her body. After five years of living under the Black Lake, one would think that she was used to the chill air. However, that was not the case. Adrienne was always a little cold.

The two walked in silence as they ascended the stairs from the basement, and left the frozen air behind them. Draco led them through the door that led out of the castle, Adrienne followed.

The outside air was much warmer than the air in the castle. Draco's grey eyes were trained to the Black Lake as they walked across the grounds. Once at there, Adrienne leaned against a tall tree and looked over the lake. Draco continued towards it, his stepped slowing as he approached the edge. The young Malfoy reached down and took several stones in his hand. He took the first in his hand and flicked it out over the lake watching it skipped twice before sinking. Adrienne took a seat at the base of the tall tree and watched him. His motions were smooth yet sharp and purposeful.

After a few minutes sitting in silence, save for the sound of the rocks hitting the water, she stood from her seat at the base of the tree and started towards Draco. She folded her arms over her chest as she came to a stop next to him.

"His hand," Draco said quietly as he continued to skip the rocks in his hand.

"Yeah, I saw it. It looks dead. But the other one looks fine," Adrienne added.

"Did you see the ring he was wearing?" Draco asked as she tossed another rock into the lake.

"Yeah, but Dumbledore has a million rings," the girl told him with a shrug.

"There's a ring on his hand that's very similar to one that the Dark Lord wore in a picture that's in our manor. It looks just like the one that he wore, down to a tee."

"So how did Dumbledore get it?"

Draco shrugged and tossed the last pebble in his hand across the lake. He then turned to face her, his grey eyes tired as they searched her brown ones. He then took a step back and looked over the lake. Their shoulders touched as they stood in silence watching the Black Lake. There were occasional ripples on the surface, but nothing broke the otherwise glassy surface. The silence grew heavier as they sat, until it was suffocating Adrienne. There was something that had been left unsaid since she was inducted into the Death Eaters. It was her turn face him. Her sudden movement caught his attention and he turned his grey eyes to her. The expression on her face was difficult to read in the night, so he waited for her to speak.

"When are you going to tell me?" she asked quietly.

"Tell you what, Adrienne?" he asked, his mind clearly occupied with something else.

Adrienne knew that it was unsafe to have this conversation outside, anyone could be listening – even the Dark Lord himself, however, she also knew that it was riskier to have the conversation inside the building, seeing as there were Aurors standing on almost every corner. She took a half step closer to him. Draco turned his full attention to the girl as she moved closer to him, leaning down so that she could speak even quieter. "What the Dark Lord assigned you," she said in a low voice.

Draco leaned away from her and turned his attention back to the lake. However, she could see his hand tighten into a fist, so much so that the veins in his arm began to show, and his already pale skin, paled more. Adrienne knew that she'd crossed a line. She knew that she should have waited until he came to her and told her. However, she just couldn't wait. She was curious, and curiosity had gotten the better of her. Draco remained still and silent, as if he wanted to tell her, but was formulating a way to do so. As soon as she opened her mouth to speak, he spoke, "Dumbledore," he started quietly, before turning his eyes towards her again, "he, the Dark Lord, wants me to kill him."

Adrienne hoped that her shock was not displayed on her face. The dark skinned girl looked at the pale boy in front of her, trying to figure out what exactly to say to him in response. However, she had no idea how to respond. It had been clear to her that he had received a task more difficult than hers, but something to this extent was beyond anything she perceived. She'd been feeling the weight of the Dark Lord's trust, but now she knew that the strain she'd been feeling was nothing compared to Draco's.

"Adrienne," he said to her before she could respond to anything that he'd said, "you're skilled at Legilimency and Occlumency, correct?" Draco drawled slowly. The girl nodded in the darkness. "My aunt, Bellatrix, trained me over the summer, do you think that you could…"

Before Draco had finished Adrienne pulled her wand from her pocket and muttered, "Legilimens."

Immediately, she was met with a vision of nothingness. The space was an expanse of sheer white and nothing else. It reminded her of fresh, undisturbed snow on the ground. There was just nothing. Adrienne was fairly impressed with his ability. However, after a moment she was able to find something in the expanse of white. A black dot in the strech of nothingness. She focused in on it, plunging through his barrier. Behind the barrier were a few memories from before Draco's fifth year. The sorting hat was among them. The young Draco Malfoy sat on the bench and before the hat even touched his head, he was placed in Slytherin. A flash of something in the Malfoy Manor, and she was then pushed away. "Good," the Zabini said a little breathless. It was always a challenge to go against someone that was skilled in Legilimency, it took a toll on your body.

Draco's face was paler that it had been before. He turned and looked away from her dark brown eyes. Adrienne yawned and closed her brown eyes. "You can go to bed, Adrienne," Draco told her without looking at her. She shook her head. "You're waiting for me, aren't you?" She needn't answer. "Alright," he said, "Let's go." Draco said as she turned away from her and started towards the castle.

Adrienne tailed after him, until she found herself at his side. Draco, who was familiar with wandering the grounds at night, knew then exact path that he needed to take, and Adrienne, after figuring that out, fell into line behind him. However, Adrienne had never been the most coordinated person in the day time, so to have her walking around tree roots at night wasn't the best idea. And of course the inevitable happened, Adrienne's foot got caught under a tree root growing above the ground and she tripped. Draco immediately stopped and caught her, just before her face hit the ground.

"You ought to be more careful," Draco told her coolly. Even in the dark she could see the smirk on his lips. He waited until she was on her feet again before releasing her from his grasp. He then held his hand out to her again. Understanding, Adrienne took his hand in hers and followed him back towards the castle.

"Draco?" she questioned.

The blond boy stopped walking and glanced at her over his shoulder. "Adrienne?"

"Do we need to discuss this arrangement?" she questioned slowly.

They had not had much contact with one another since his father's announcement. At this point, she understood that the fact that they were betrothed was far from the top of his list of things to be concerned about, and if she was being honest it wasn't at the top of her list either. However, she figured that it was worth a conversation at least to see where they stood.

In response, Draco shrugged. "Is there anything to discuss?"

To him, there was nothing to talk over. Their parents had made this choice for them, and they were to live with it. However, he hadn't exactly been thinking about it. He supposed that he should have been thinking about it, but he'd had other things on his mind. Like killing the Headmaster of Hogwarts. However, he did have to admit that it was a thought that was floating somewhere in his mind.

"That's why I'm asking," she responded.

"Do you have objections?' he questioned, the warmth of her hand radiating into his.

"I don't," she replied. It's not like it mattered if she did.

"Then I see nothing to discuss," Draco said with a finite tone in his voice. A cool breeze blew between them and a shiver went through her body, visibly shaking her. Draco turned his attention away from her and started walking again, her trailing behind him.

Once the two Slytherins reached the castle, Draco didn't release her hand, so she didn't release his hand either. At the base of the staircase stood two Aurors. As the two Slytherins entered the castle the Aurors stood with their wands at the ready. In response, Draco flashed them the Prefects badge on the front of his suit jacket and they dropped their arms and they two sixth years made their way down towards the dungeons. When they reached the common room, Draco dropped her hand and turned back towards the corridor.

"Good night, Adrienne," he muttered.

"You're not coming?" she asked.

Draco turned to face her and his smirk had turned into a soft smile. "I don't sleep, Adrienne. The Dark Lord's more powerful than you at Legitimacy," he told her. "Puer," he said, and the Slytherin common room started to appear behind her. "But you should sleep," he continued. He took her hand and kissed the back of it. "So, I bid you a goodnight, Adrienne." Draco dropped her hand and turned her to face the common room, then with a final departing act, pushed her gently towards the room.

With the added momentum, Adrienne was able to walk into the common room and look back to see Draco walking back towards the stairs just before the wall blocked him from sight.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hey! Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm really enjoying rewriting this story and developing it better. Please leave a review even if it's just to say hi or whatever. I really love hearing what the readers have to say and what they think about the characters and where the story is going.

 **~ Nikki**


	6. Chapter 6

Adrienne had fallen into a restless sleep that night. She'd spent most of it uncharacteristically tossing and turning in her bed. Whenever she was on the edge of sleep, she found herself pulled away from it by some thought or idea. In the end, she had managed to find the lightest, most unrestful sleep, she could remember. A sleep that was interrupted by someone shaking her shoulder.

"Adrienne," the voice called out to her.

"Sod off," the dark skinned girl demanded as she pulled the comforter over her head and burrowed deeper into her, suddenly, comfortable mattress.

"You're going to be late for the first day of classes," another voice said. This one was further away, coming from somewhere on the other side of her bed. She recognized that voice as well. "No wonder they didn't make you Prefect."

To that, Adrienne launched one of her pillows towards the girl speaking. A satisfied smirk crossed her lips as her ears were greeted with a _ompf!_ The sound of a girl who had just been hit with a pillow. From under her sheets, she could see Pansy rubbing the back of her head, presumably, where the pillow had made contact with her.

"That's not funny, Adrienne," the pug faced girl wined, "You've made me waste ink on my bedspread."

"Nothing, that a flourish of your wand won't fix," Adrienne mumbled in her pillow.

Somewhere in the castle, the clock chimed seven times. Adrienne groaned loudly, a most unladylike action, before rolling over in her bed again and pulling the sheets from over her head. The light was bright against her eyes, even though it was dull in comparison to the rest of the castle, the lighting was pretty dim. She squinted, just barely making out the outline of her roommate, Melanie. She was standing at the foot of her bed in her pajama bottoms and a black bra digging through her trunk. She watched silently as Melanie flung the contents of her trunk around the room; her shirts and skirts landing in a pile on the floor.

"What are you doing?" she questioned, unable to hide her irritation. By then, she had sat up and pushed the covers off her body, stretching as she did.

As Melanie answered, Adrienne swung her feet on to the cold stone floor of the dormitory and stood, making her way to her trunk to gather the items she would need for the day. "Trying to find something."

Adrienne straightened her back, her clothes and a towel cradled in her arms. "You're a witch, Melanie. There's a spell for finding things." Melanie looked at her sheepishly. "You've lost your wand?" the young witch replied.

"No, Adrienne," the brunette replied with her hands on her hips. "I haven't _lost_ it, I've just, er, _misplaced_ it, is all."

Adrienne rolled her eyes and plucked her wand from the bedside table. "Accio," she said calmly, moving her hand in a perfect arch shape. Melanie's want soared into her hand from underneath the bed. As she left the dormitory, heading towards the shower, she handed the wand off to her friend.

The bathroom was filled with steam from a mornings worth of showers. She inhaled deeply, letting the steam fill her nose. Quickly, she moved into a shower stall, undressed, and stepped under the hot water. That was one good things about Hogwarts; hot water was in unlimited supply. The hot water felt great on her skin after a night of tossing and turning in bed. It even seemed to relax the tight muscles in her back. She let her eyes close for a moment, savoring the feeling of the water rushing over her body.

Her shower had ended much too quickly. Pansy had come into the bathroom, saying something about it being 7:20 and if she wanted to get anything for breakfast, she'd better get out of the shower. In response, Adrienne shut off the water and wrapped a towel around her. When she stepped out of the shower stall, she saw Pansy standing in front of the mirror, pinning on her Prefect badge.

"Well, hurry up, then."

Adrienne obeyed, moving to take her clothes into another stall and get dressed. She quietly muttered a spell to dry her dark hair and then began pulling her clothes on. Within the next five minutes, Adrienne was completely dressed and walking back into the dormitory. She dropped her neatly folded pajamas onto her bed and then began to braid her hair into a French braid. She hadn't had much time to do much to her hair, and this kept her hair out of her face and contained. When she finished, she looked over her shoulder to find Melanie struggling to get her tie straight.

"You're entirely hopeless," she said to her roommate as she moved over to tie the article of clothing.

"What would I do without you, Addy?" the girl questioned as she moved to shoulder her satchel. Adrienne didn't respond. Instead, she too shouldered her satchel and started out of the door, with Melanie trailing behind her.

The common room was all but empty when the two girls finally found their way to it. Everyone must have already been at breakfast. Without stopping, the two girls exited the common room and started up towards the Great Hall. During their walk, Melanie hooked her arm through Adrienne's attaching herself to her friend.

When they appeared in the Great Hall, she was proven right. The Slytherin table was full of students. The first years were all sitting at one end of the table, talking among themselves. They were always cautions about speaking to the older students. Some had older siblings and would venture to their siblings and friends. However, they always found their way back to the students in their year.

Pansy had found her way to Draco's side. Their matching Prefect's badges glinting in the light. She had made herself comfortable next to the blonde, talking about something or other. Whatever it was, Draco was very uninterested in the topic, opting for pushing his eggs around on the plate in front of him. Pansy, per usual, was completely oblivious to this.

"Blaise," Adrienne greeted as she took the seat next to him and across from Draco. Draco's tired grey eyes lifted from the plate before him to meet hers, but he said nothing to her.

"Are you feeling well?" Blaise questioned, reading the tired expression on her face.

In response, Adrienne shrugged and reached over to take a piece of toast. "Fine," she replied. As she began to cover her toast with jam, she felt that Blaise's gaze was still on her. She tried to ignore him, hoping that he would get the clue and stop watching her, but he didn't. And in her sleep deprived state, she snapped at him, breaking her usual calm demeanor. "What, Blaise!?" Her tone was exasperated. Blaise blinked, taken back by her outburst. "Sorry," she apologized. "I'm tired is all."

Blaise let her excuse slide. He wasn't too eager to have her snapping at him this early in the morning. Instead, he turned his attention to his breakfast.

"Didn't sleep well?"

That was Draco's familiar drawling voice. Adrienne brought her eyes up to his grey ones. There was a slight smirk on his lips as he placed his elbows on the table. He leaned forward towards her ever so slightly.

"I slept well enough," she told him.

They were quiet for a moment. Her chewing on the edge of her toast, him gazing at her intently. At first, she tried to ignore it, just as she had done with Blaise. She just went about eating her toast. However, it soon started to get under her skin. Even from a tired Draco Malfoy, his gaze was intense.

"What?" she hissed across the table.

Draco continued to watch her through his grey eyes as he spoke. "You're lying."

She shrugged. "So what if I am?"

Draco shrugged in response to her question. He leaned back, pressing his elbows off the table and looking towards Blaise.

Adrienne sighed softly. She was a very leveled headed kind of girl. She kept her emotions in check and very rarely snapped at people. All a product of her upbringing, she supposed. Being brought up as a Pureblood female, meant that she was taught to be seen and not heard. She was not to speak unless she was spoken to. She was supposed to be poised and controlled in her interactions. Needless to say, she'd incorporated that behavior into her personality. Which was why, Blaise was so taken back when she'd snapped at him. It was so uncommon and uncharacteristic of her to snap like that. Even Draco was put off by her attitude.

"Adrienne," her brother called out to her. His tone was cautious.

"Yes?" she questioned as she turned her gaze to him, trying to keep her tone even. She wasn't upset, she was just tired. That was no reason to snap at everyone.

"Did you decide on taking Advanced Potions?" he questioned.

Adrienne had scored an Outstanding on her OWL for Potions. However, she had been indecisive on if she were going to continue with Potions. She was clearly very good at the topic, but would have preferred to have a free period in the mornings. However, after receiving her task from the Dark Lord, it seemed that it would be pertinent to take the Advanced Potions course. Seeing as it was being taught by none other than Horace Slughorn, the man that the Dark Lord had asked her to get close to.

"Yes, I did," she answered gesturing to the satchel at her feet. The bag was not closed all of the way, so the contents were slightly visible: three textbooks: one for potions, one for Advanced Arithmancy, Studies, and the other was for Defense Against the Dark Arts, and her usual school supplies were neatly placed inside.

"You're taking Advanced Arithmancy Studies?" Pansy questioned from her place next to Draco. Her eyes had found their way to her satchel uninvited.

When Adrienne turned her gaze to her, she had her nose upturned. "What is it to you?" the dark skinned girl replied.

"Nothing, it's just I didn't think that you were," Pansy's voice trailed off as she looked over to see not only Adrienne's hard brown eyes on her, but the eyes of her brother and fiancé. "Interested," Pansy finished, taking the nonverbal hint from her housemates. They all knew where she was heading to begin with, but it would not have been in her best interest to continue.

"Well, now you know that I am," Adrienne responded. Her brown eyes flickered over to the table where the Professors sat. She noticed that some of the Professors were leaving the table. Students were beginning to leave the Great Hall as well, grabbing their satchels and walking out with friends and housemates. "Melanie," she started. Melanie's eyes lifted to meet hers. "I'll see you in Defense Against the Dark Arts, right?"

Her friend had not earned the OWLs appropriate to get her into Advanced Potion Making or Advanced Arithmancy Studies. However, she was successful in earning O's in Defense Against the Dark Arts as well as Charms.

"You will," she replied. "I have Divination this morning and then Care of Magical Creatures. So I'll see you in afternoon block for class."

Adrienne would never understand her roommate's interest with Divination. It was a very wooly subject if she were honest with herself. Adrienne knew that if she had applied herself more she would have received an O on the OWLs, however, she hadn't. It had been the only course that she had not earned an O in, her grade still being high enough, an E, to have been offered a spot in the Advanced course. An offer that she immediately refused.

"Well, I think that we should be heading out," Blaise commented as he moved to stand.

Within a few moments, his sister, Draco, Pansy, and Melanie were all standing and shouldering their bags. Pansy readjusted her Prefects badge making sure that it was still visible with her bag on her shoulder. Adrienne reached up to straighten and tighten her tie. She then reached over to straighten Blaise's, despite his attempts to move away from her slender hands.

"Can we go now?" Blaise all but whined as he pulled away from his sister's hands.

"Fine, Blaise," she agreed, hiking her bag up on to her shoulder. "Let's go."

The five Slytherin sixth years started to make their way out of the Great Hall. Pushing their way through some of the younger students that had decided that it was a great idea to stand in the middle of the walkway. Melanie left them as they left the Great Hall, blending into the traffic that was going up the Grand Staircase. The remaining Slytherins started back towards a more familiar and less crowded area: the dungeons.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hello! Thanks for reading this chapter. Leave a review and let me know how you liked it! Or if you hated it... Or what I could do to improve. Thanks!

 **~ Nikki**


	7. Chapter 7

Professor Slughorn burst into the Potions classroom punctually, and turned to the class. He noticed the Zabini twins standing together, with Draco Malfoy, and he greeted them enthusiastically, shaking both of their hands, and conveniently ignoring Draco. Adrienne greeted him warmly, smiling brightly and showing him her pearly white teeth. Slughorn seemed very pleased with the greeting he received from her. Blaise, because of his sister, also greeted the man warmly, or as warmly as he could. Draco kept his tired grey eyes turned away from the Professor. However, Pansy tried to slip her way into his greetings, only to have Slughorn brush off her advances. Adrienne shared a secret smirk with her brother.

Slughorn noticed that Harry Potter was standing somewhere in the back of the room. The Professor moved across the room shaking hands with Potter, who was standing next to his best friend, Ron Weasley. Beside the red-haired pureblood was the mudblood Hermione Granger, who was holding her textbook close to her chest.

"Now then, now then, now then," Slughorn repeated to get the two Ravenclaws to end their conversation. "Scales out, and potion kits, and don't forget your copies of _Advanced Potions Making_ …"

As the class pulled out their needed materials, Potter said something about not having a book, and because he was the 'Chosen One' he got a book, as well as the red-haired Weasley. The two boys moved towards the cupboard that they had been directed towards. From the corner of her eye, she could see the boys having a small scuffle at the cupboard. She turned her full attention to the two Gryffindors watching as they fought in the cupboard with an arched eyebrow. Draco muttered something under his breath and Adrienne turned her attention to the blond beside her, and away from the Gryffindors, but he'd stopped speaking by that time.

"Now then, I've prepared a few potions for you to have a look at, just out of interest, you know. These are the kind of things you ought to be able to make after completing your N.E.W.T.s. You ought to have heard of 'em, even if you haven't made 'em yet. Anyone know what this one is?" Slughorn asked as he gestured to the cauldron nearest the Slytherin table.

Without raising her hand or even taking a second glance at the potion, Adrienne answered, "That's Veritaserum, a colorless, odorless potion that forces the drinker to tell the truth."

Adrienne looked up at the Professor and so that he was grinning broadly at her. She then turned her attention to the rest of the class, Granger looked slightly offended that she, a Slytherin, would answer a question right, before her. For five years, Granger's right answers had plagued the classroom. She always seemed to be the one with the answers. However, as it would seem Adrienne also knew the answers, she was just too lazy to actually answer the questions asked of a class. And really why try and compete against Granger? Adrienne would always be better than her.

"Very good, Ms. Zabini," he said happily. "Now," he pointed to the cauldron near the Ravenclaw table, "this one here is pretty well known."

"Polyjuice potion," Adrienne answered once again. Hermione lowered her hand in defeat. "It's a potion that allows the drinker to assume the form of someone else. While it can account for both age and gender, Polyjuice Potion cannot be used for a human to take an animal form or for a half-breed to assume human form."

"Excellent, Ms. Zabini, ten points to Slytherin," Slughorn awarded. "Now this one," he said pointing to the cauldron in front of the Gryffindors.

The room was silent for a moment. Hermione was glaring at Adrienne and Adrienne was looking down at the parchment on her desk. Aside from the two of them, she was sure that no one else knew the answer. After a moment, Adrienne turned her dark brown eyes up to the classroom and met Slughorn slightly disappointed gaze, and then looked at the pathetic looking Granger. "The Gryffindor can have this one," Adrienne drawled. "She'll die if she can't answer at least one question in class." The Slytherin's snickered. "Take it, Granger."

Slightly embarrassed but excited to have the ability to answer, "It's Amortentia, the strongest love potion in the world."

"That's correct, five points to Gryffindor. It's said to smell differently to each person, according to what attracts you. Miss. Zabini what do you smell?" He fanned some of the potions spiraling pink smoke in her direction.

Adrienne looked up from the parchment again, caught off guard by his question and the overwhelming scent that had floated towards her. "Oh," she started. "I smell citrus, broomstick polish, and fresh linens."

"Mr. Malfoy?" Slughorn posed, turning his attention to the blond Pureblood wizard.

"Strawberry, ivory, and fresh ink," Draco admitted, his face was a little pink from embarrassment.

"Ms. Granger, was it?"

"Hermione Granger," she agreed. "I smell freshly mown grass, new parchment, and spearmint toothpaste." Her face too was a little pink.

"Lovely, you three, ten points to Slytherin and five to Gryffindor, for participation," he said. "Now, open your books to page ten."

"Sir, you haven't told us what that one is," said the boy sitting next to the trio of Gryffindors, Terry Boot. He was pointing a small vial of silver potion hung behind the cauldron of Amortentia. The potion was swishing about the vial merrily and was the color of melted silver.

"That's Felix Felicis," Hermione and Adrienne answered in unison.

Slughorn looked amused by the looks that the two girls traded. "Lovely to see two intelligent ladies involved in some friendly competition. But, that is correct, or as some like to call it, Liquid Luck; desperately tricky to make, and disastrous if you get it wrong. However, if brewed correctly, you will find that your endeavors will succeed… at least until the effects wear off. And that is why I shall be offering it as a prize. In order to win this small vile of Liquid Luck, enough for 12 hours, you simply have to brew an acceptable Drought of Living Death. Off you go!"

The sound of scraping chairs on the floor as students pulled their cauldron on to the table and then began on their potions. Draco was the first to start at the Slytherin table, clearly wanting a lucky day. She started to tell him that if he didn't win the potion in class, she'd make the damn thing for him. She debated on offering to help him, however she opted out of it. By the time that Adrienne had even started, he was already stirring in his crushed Wormwood.

"Ms. Zabini," Slughorn said to her, pulling her from her thoughts. "How is your mother? Is she doing well?"

Adrienne ground her teeth together, clenching her jaw. She then relaxed, bringing her brown eyes up to her Professor's. "I actually spent a few weeks out of the country over the summer vacation, so I didn't spend a lot of time with her. However, from the few weeks I did spend with her after I returned, she seemed splendid." Adrienne and her mother had never particularly gotten along. Apparently, Adrienne was a problem child. She never did what she was told and she was constantly irritating her mother. That wasn't completely untrue. In her younger years, Adrienne had rebelled, but it was more so to get her mother's attention. However, she was long past that point. She'd been much more of a daddy's girl, at least she was. He'd died when she was seven.

"Ah, really?" he asked, interested. "Where did you travel too?"

"Oh, Italy; we have family there."

"That's lovely; we must talk about Venice over tea sometime," he told her, not giving her a real option to say no. So she nodded, accepting his invitation. "I'll let you get back to your potion then, eh?"

"Thank you, sir."

After Slughorn walked away from the table, Draco slid a bit of parchment to her. Adrienne ignored it for a moment, finishing a few steps on her potion. She was stirring the potion in the cauldron when she took a moment to glance down at the note. She always marveled at how neat Draco's handwriting was. It wasn't feminine, but it was just neat.

 _Your part seems to be going well._

A smirk graced her lips and she replied back: _Yes, well, I'm a naturally likeable person._

 _Her handwriting was bubbly and very feminine. She dotted her is with bold dots and crossed her ts with sharp lines._

After sliding the note back to him, she started back on the potion. She heard him snort and crumple up the bit of parchment causing her to smile down at her work. The table was quiet for a long while, the entire room actually, and then Slughorn shouted, "And time, stop stirring."

Adrienne, who'd given up on brewing the potion correctly a few moments before, sat back in her chair as Slughorn walked about the room.

"Almost but not quite, Mr. Malfoy," he commented. "Very close, Mr. and Miss. Zabini." He went to the Gryffindor table and beamed with pride. "Mr. Potter, it's perfect; I dare say one drop would kill us all. The winner is clear." Harry slipped the vial into his pocket and she heard Draco scoff.

The Slytherins left the table and the classroom. It was there that Adrienne slipped away from them, heading up the Grand Staircase to her Advanced Arithmancy Studies course while Draco and Blaise headed away towards the common room.

Professor Vector began her lecture as soon as class started. The class was small, a total of 14 students. At least half of them being Ravenclaws and a few of them were Hufflepuffs, even less were Gryfindors, one of them being Granger, and she was the only Slytherin.

The lecture had been a review of a lot of the material from last term, making sure that everyone was caught up on the way that the numbers worked from the Numerology side. As an in class assignment, they had to calculate their Life Pattern. This was done by taking the numbers associated with your birthdate, adding them together, and reducing it to a single number. For example, Adrienne's birthday was May 17, 1980. The numbers for that day were 5,17, 1980. When added together they came to 2002. In order to reduce the number, the individual numbers in the number 2002 are added, so 2,0,0,2 equal out to 4. Making her Life Path Number 4. Her master number settled at 22. Making her 22/4. This number reveals her as a lover of detail and a master builder. Setting her as someone that is helpful and hardworking, but stubborn and dramatic. Making her an intense being who is highly organized making one seem like a perfectionist, a trait that she wouldn't deny. Professor Vector had collected the assignment as they exited the room, calling it their first grade of the term.

Immediately following Advanced Arithmancy Studies, Adrienne found her way to Defense Against the Dark Arts. It was then that she met back up with her housemates. She and Melanie sat together, leaving Draco with Blaise, and Pansy to sit with Crabbe or Goyle, Adrienne wasn't really paying that much attention. Melanie talked idly about Divination, and Adrienne played the part of a good friend and listened to her stories. However, she was glad that Snape walked into the room, directing them to be quiet and take out their quills and parchment. He began his lecture, drawling through the information as he paced the classroom with his arms crossed over his chest. Snape would briefly make eye contact with his Slytherin students, acknowledging them for questions before any other students.

Eventually, Snape dismissed the class, but not before assigning homework. They were to read the first three chapters of the textbook and come prepared on Wednesday. Which meant that there would be a test of the materials. The Slytherins fell into step with one another. However, they didn't speak. Draco walked with his hands in the pockets of his robes. Adrienne, who was walking next to him, noticed that he had removed his Prefects badge. She looked down and saw that it had been haphazardly shoved into his shoulder bag. She started to question him on the matter, but decided against it. Not wanting to upset him, and he looked like he was thinking. Who was she to interrupt his train of thought?

The Slytherins entered the common room. There were a few first years sitting on the sofa that the five of them had claimed as theirs six years ago, upon seeing the older Slytherin students they moved quickly. Still silent, Adrienne dropped her bag on the floor and collapsed into the sofa, lying her head on Blaise's lap when he sat next to her. From the corner of her eye, she could see that he wanted to say something to her, but decided against it.

Draco settled into the arm chair next to the sofa and crossed his ankle over his knee. Adrienne watched him close his eyes and lean his head back on the chair for a moment, before speaking. "Of course, Saint Potter won the Luck," Draco drawled.

It took her a moment to process what he was talking about. Her head was so full of numbers and Defense Against the Dark Arts materials, that she had pushed the events of Potions class to the back of her mind. She brought her hand to the bridge of her nose as she let her eyes close. A small headache was forming at her temples. "I can make the potion if you want it that badly," Adrienne drawled sleepily.

"I don't need it, Adrienne," he snapped, shooting down her help.

Adrienne was almost offended, in fact she was quite offended, but she was too tired to say anything to him about it. Instead, she let her attention settled somewhere else, like on the sound of the water of the Black Lake lapping against the window in the common room. She could faintly hear her brother and Draco holding a conversation over her head. Melanie had excused herself from the conversation, saying something about being elbow deep in Divination homework already. She was just barely aware of the fact that Blaise was stroking her hair, his fingertips raking against her scalp.

Unable to continue to focus in on the things happening around her, even if one of them was Pansy perched on the arm of Draco's chair playing with his hair, Adrienne let the sounds of the lake and her brother's relaxing touch lull her to sleep.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hello, dears! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I really enjoyed making the edits to this chapter. I think that there's more character development going on at the moment, and less relationship development between Adrienne and Draco. Never fear though, it is coming. Just keep in mind, that Draco has a lot on his mind and being a teenager and falling in love is not even on his radar, at least not that he knows. Let me know what you think with a review! If you have a question or a comment or a critique, I'll PM you back with a vague explanation so that I don't give away any of the edited plot. :)


	8. Chapter 8

Waking up was never an easy task for Ms. Adrienne Zabini. Especially when she had not received enough sleep during the night to keep her going through the day. The dark skinned girl slowly started to come to consciousness, feeling that her headache was still there. She realized that she was no longer lying on her brother's lap, however, her head wasn't on the cold leather sofa. Instead it was lying on something soft that carried the faintest scent of citrus. She inhaled softly, burrowing into the fabric under her head.

"I take it you like the smell of my jumper, Zabini," Draco Malfoy's voice drawled from beside her.

Adrienne slowly opened one of her dark eyes and looked up at him. On his lap was a Defense Against the Dark Arts book from fifth year from the looks of the notes in the margins. His grey eyes were looking down at the book before him, and there was a confused or frustrated, she was unable to identify the actual emotion, look etched on his face. Adrienne sat up slowly and stretched. Her hand went to the jumper beside her and she handed it to him. "Wash it for me; don't want your droll on my jumper."

Adrienne made a face and then looked towards the dying fire. "You didn't sleep well last night, did you?"

So this vein of conversation was not dead. Adrienne sighed heavily and looked at him from the corner of her eye. She saw that he had not looked away from the words on the page while speaking to her. The expression, the one that she couldn't name, was off his face and had been replaced with his usual mask. "No," Adrienne answered honestly. She saw no reason to lie to him about it at this point, she'd just fallen asleep on his jumper.

A silence fell between them. Adrienne placed the jumper on her lap and folded her hands on top of it. She listened to the crackling of the dying fire. Her thoughts started to travel to the task that she had been assigned. While it wasn't one that was particularly difficult, not in comparison to the one that the boy beside her had received, however it was still a task assigned to her by the Dark Lord. No one wanted to fail the Dark Lord, no matter how trivial the task. Slughorn seemed like it would be easy enough to get him to like her. It was apparent to her that he already liked her, or at least something about her. Her family linage, perhaps. She was a pureblood after all. He had asked about her mother; was it possible that he had taught her when she mother, Kya Turay? Adrienne absentmindedly started to play with the fabric of the jumper in her lap. It would be easier if she knew what exactly it was that Slughorn found so interesting about her. She understood what he liked about Potter, he was the bleeding Boy Who Lived, she could even see the desire to have Belby in the group. However, what did he want from her?

"Adrienne," Draco said to her quietly, pulling her from her thoughts. "What do you know about Vanishing Cabinets?"

Adrienne was taken aback by his question. They hadn't talked about that since last year in their Defense Against the Dark Arts class. However, Adrienne, possibly the brightest witch in Slytherin House, remembered, she always remembered. "They were used a lot in the First Wizarding War. There has to be two of them in order for them to work properly. When connected, then they create a link. It's like Apparition without the threat of splinching."

"Give me an example," Draco said not looking up from the book.

"Okay, say the Dark Lord is breaking into Granger's house," she saw the corner of his lips twitch upward. "If she has a Vanishing Cabinet in her home, and say Weasley has one as well, and they are paired together, Granger can leave her home and appear in the Vanishing Cabinet at Weasley's, if there is a threat to her safety. It's a magical tunnel of sorts." Adrienne closed her eyes. "If the pairing is broken then the user with fall into Limbo until the Cabinets are repaired or they will die there."

"Is that all?" he asked her calmly.

Adrienne shrugged in a noncommittal way. "I'm sure that there is more to them."

Draco closed the book and tossed it on to the table before them. The blond Slytherin closed his eyes, bringing his fingers to the bridge of his nose. He exhaled, pushing all the air from his lungs. "Are you hungry?" he questioned, glancing at her.

As if on que, her stomach muscles tensed in an almost painful manner. The dark haired girl chanced a look at the clock in the common room. She'd slept all afternoon and into the evening hours, it was now nearing 6:30. Adrienne flushed, she'd been a sleep for at least five hours. Had he sat there the entire time?

"Did you eat?" she questioned.

"I've been here with you," he told her with a shrug.

"You didn't have to stay with me," she told him. "I can assure you that I am completely safe in the common room. The worst that would have happened was I might have gotten cold."

"A thank you would have sufficed, Adrienne," he told her. He stood slowly, after a long moment of silence. "I am heading to the kitchens. You may join me if you like. If not, you should go to your room and go back to sleep. Your choice."

Adrienne watched him as he exited the common room. She then turned her attention back to the jumper on her lap, carefully plucking a loose string from the collar. She sat a moment longer, feeling the chill of the dungeon air brushing over her skin. She tugged the jumper over her head and stood, stretching as she did. She then made her way towards the exit.

She was glad for the extra jumper as she stepped into the dungeons and strolled down the corridor. Ahead of her, she could hear the faint sounds of footsteps. She pulled her hands into the sleeves of Draco's jumper and continued down the corridor at a quicker pace.

"No need to run," Draco drawled lazily when she finally caught up to him on the stairs leading up from the dungeons and to the basement.

Despite the basement only being one floor above the dungeons, it was significantly warmer there. In fact, there were even some spaces where light filtered into the windows.

"Don't wrinkle my jumper," Draco said lazily as they walked towards the end of the hall.

The two Slytherins came to a stop in front of a large painting of a silver fruit bowl. Draco reached out and tickled the pear. The green fruit squirmed, giggling, under his fingers before turning into a doorknob. Draco took an awkward step back with his hands in his pockets and the door swung open.

Adrienne had always liked the kitchens. There were four tables lined up in the room, she'd always assumed they were directly under the tables in the Great Hall. The elves were always milling about, talking to one another or cleaning. However, they all stopped what they were doing and turned their large eyes towards the door.

"Mistress and Mister!" one of the elves exclaimed bowing to them both. "What can the elves do for you?"

Adrienne turned her gaze to Draco, who said nothing. "I know dinner only ended a while ago, but we'd like something to eat." Adrienne's tone was a little awkward. She was never really sure how to address the elves at Hogwarts. At home, she could talk to the elves however she liked, they were her family's elves. True all elves were elves, and they were all to be treated as such, but they weren't her elves. So any statement that she said to the elves came out as a sort of pushy request.

"Oh, of course! Sit, sit, sit," the elf said gesturing towards the tables.

Almost out of instinct, the two walked to the table closest to the wall, the one directly under their house table and closest to the fireplace. She settled into the seat, placing her elbows on the edge of the table tucking her hands under her chin. Several elves came towards them, carrying trays of silverware, plates, meats, fruits, vegetables, desserts, and drinks. They placed the trays in front of them and then scurried away.

Adrienne poured herself a glass of pumpkin juice and then tilted the bottle over Draco's glass as well, he nodded to let her know to stop. They were quiet as they ate, not needing to hold a conversation. Or not having anything of mutual interest to discuss. In all actuality the latter wasn't true. They had at least two things that they could have been discussing. One of them being the tasks that were assigned to them by the Dark Lord, however she doubted that he would want to discuss that. The area also wasn't very secure. They had no idea where the loyalties of the house elves stood. The second would be their engagement. However, after the discussion they had last night, it didn't seem like he wanted to discuss that either. So she opted for remaining silent until he started the conversation.

"Why didn't you sleep well?" he questioned finally as she poked at her chocolate cake. Adrienne looked over at him blankly, as if she didn't hear what he has said to her. "Why didn't you sleep well?" he

questioned again.

Adrienne shrugged, not really knowing how to answer his question. She just knew that she hadn't been able to sleep. "Dunno."

He watched her as she scraped the icing off her cake with the fork before eating it. This habit of hers had always confused and amused him, to say the least. He had never seen her actually eat the icing while it was _on_ the cake, she always ate them _separately._ It was so odd to him, however he never thought to ask her about it.

"Why?" he asked gesturing to the plate with one of his long fingers. She looked down at the plate with a confused look in her eyes. "The cake and the icing."

Adrienne looked down at the plate as if she were noticing this for the first time. "Oh, I don't know. I have always done it," she said with a soft shrug as she continued to eat her icing separately from the cake. Draco continued to watch her with an arched eyebrow. After a few moments, she sighed and scooped the icing on to the cake and then scooped the piece of cake, taking a bit of the two of them together.

The girl scrunched her nose. "It's too sweet together."

"It's the exact same as it is separately," he told her.

Too that, she shrugged as she started in on the cake. "It's messy together, you know? This way it's separate and cleaner." Draco snorted. "What?"

Draco shook his head and said nothing, instead sipped n his pumpkin juice. He watched her from the side of his eye, separating the icing from the cake in her peculiar way. After a moment, he turned his attention to the cake on his plate. He wasn't going to eat it. Instead, he pushed it around on his plate with his fork watching it break apart.

"Draco," she called to him. "Are you ready to head back to the common room?"

Draco turned his eyes towards the clock in the kitchens, seeing that it was nearing seven thirty. He had not realized that it had been an hour. He nodded to her. He needed to get her back to the common room because he required the rest of the night to get to work on his task. His was not as straight forward as her and required much more effort on his behalf.

The two Slytherins stood from the table and the remaining house elves bowed to them, before starting to clear the food off the table. Adrienne looked a little torn, as if she wanted to thank the elves, but Draco led her out of the room before she could say anything. In silence, they continued towards the common room. Adrienne clasped her hands behind her back as they walked at an even pace towards the common room.

Once there, Adrienne muttered the password and then turned her eyes towards Draco. "You're not coming tonight either?" she questioned as the common room started to slip into view.

"No, I'm not," he confirmed. "However," he continued as he reached into his robes and took his wand out. With a gentle arch shaped flick of his wand, he muttered, "Accio book." The Defense Against the Dark Arts book that he had been reading when she woke up flew into his hand. "I do need this. Goodnight, Adrienne."

The raven haired girl stood awkwardly, one foot inside the common room and the other outside in the corridor. "I," she stopped and nodded, not wanting to pry. "Right, goodnight, Draco."

* * *

 **A/N:** Hey! Thank you for reading another chapter of _Intertwined._ I'm still having a lot of fun rewriting it and I hope you're still loving it. This is like 98 percent new chapter. Actually the past few chapters were also fairly new. A lot of little edits make a new chapter, right? Anyway, let me know what you think! Please, please leave a review.


	9. Chapter 9

"Ms. Zabini, tea this afternoon."

The girl looked up from her potion and into his glittering eyes. Adrienne stopped slicing her rat's tail and wiped her hands on her robes. She brushed her hair behind her ear and focused her attention on him. He was leaning on the table that she shared with Draco, whose grey eyes looked away from the cauldron when the Professor approached. She must have been too engrossed in slicing the pink tail into perfectly even pieces that she missed his heavy footsteps on the stone floor.

"Tea?"

"Yes, my dear! Tea. I would like to have tea with you."

Adrienne desperately wanted to say no. She glanced at Draco from the corner of her eye, trying to get some assistance from him. However, he had turned his attention back to the potion and started stirring again with a slight smirk on his lips. She hoped that her brother would sense that she was in need, via some sort of twin telepathy, and come to her rescue. That never happened. Instead, she smiled at the older man and nodded.

"It would be my pleasure, sir," she agreed.

That was how she had ended up in Slughorn's office after all of her classes had come to an end. She'd tried to find some way out of it. However, she knew that doing this would please the Dark Lord, and his pleasure was higher than her discomfort. Slughorn's office was a large, spacious one. One of the largest offices that she had seen, if she were to be honest. There was a large fireplace where a small well tamed fire danced. There were also two sofas in the office; two oversized sofas similar to the ones in the Slytherin Common room. However, the focal piece of the room seemed to be the large table in the center of the room. There were at least ten seats placed around the table all an equal distance away from the next.

"Ah, Ms. Zabini!" Slughorn greeted enthusiastically as she saw her standing near the front of his office. The girl offered him a bright smile as she shook his hand. "Sit, sit!" he gestured to the sofas near the fireplace. The two of them walked towards the furniture – well he guided her towards the sofa excitedly. Adrienne took a seat, perching with perfect posture on the edge of the sofa, and a tea cup floated over towards her.

"Thank you for inviting me, Professor," Adrienne said politely as she took the cup into her hands.

"I admit that my reasons for inviting you are purely selfish," he said with a hearty laugh.

"Oh? How so Professor?" The Slytherin girl tilted her head to the side slightly, curious as to what he meant.

"It seems that I find myself in need of a student assistant of sorts for the first and second year Potions classes," Slughorn began as he settled into the sofa next to her. "I spoke with Professor Snape and asked him who would be a good choice for this position, and he recommended you with no hesitation. He said that your potions OWL scores were among the highest in the class."

Adrienne remained humble. "Well, I did study very hard to earn those grades."

"Oh, I'm sure you did. Professor Snape mentioned that you were considering a position as a Healer upon graduation from Hogwarts."

Adrienne arched her eyebrow. She'd mention that to him very briefly in passing during her fourth year. She hadn't expected him to have retained that information. "Yes. I was looking into that profession."

"Accepting this position would fair very well for you if you do decide to continue down the previously mentioned pathway."

"Are you offering me the position?" she questioned, cupping the tea cup between her small hands.

"Why yes, my dear!"

Adrienne nodded. "Of course, Professor. I would love to help you with the first and second year students." This had been much easier that she'd expected it to be.

"Wonderful! It will be a bit of preparatory work, pre-slicing rat's tails for the first years, until we can get them doing it effectively and efficiently, can't have them taking the whole class time to slice rat tails perfect. Walking around the classroom to make sure everything is going well and no one is going to explode their cauldrons. Demonstrating how to get the juices out of certain ingredients. Also retrieval of ingredients," the Professor rambled. "Nothing that you wouldn't be able to handle, eh, Ms. Zabini?"

"Of course not, Professor."

"Great, I'm glad that the business part of this meeting is out of the way," he continued. If it were possible his tone sounded even cheerier that it did before. "Now, tell me about your time in Italy, was it?"

"Oh, yes. Italy. A lovely country, great food, great beaches, great people," she listed off not really sure what he wanted her to tell him. She could go on and on about the food there. There was pasta like no other, of course, and the gelato was to die for.

"You have family there, yes?"

"That is correct," she answered in an almost hesitant tone.

"From your mother's side?"

Adrienne shook her head. "No, not my mother's side. My late father's family lives there."

"Your late father's family. I apologize for your loss," he told her, although he didn't look to sorry about it. Adrienne gave a short nod as she brought the tea cup to her lips, acknowledging his condolences for her loss. "Tragic event to lose a parent at such a young age."

Bingo.

He wanted to talk about the passing of her father and the rumors that surrounded it. She wasn't quite sure where the conversation was going when it started but she understood now. "Yes, well, I was quite young when it happened, four, so I don't remember too much." She saw something in Slughorn's expression change. "However, I don't think that the papers were too far off with what they were saying." She couldn't believe that she was doing this. _It's for the Dark Lord,_ she told herself.

"Oh?" She could tell that she had peeked his interest. "You think that he was killed?"

The conversation was starting to leave a less than desirable taste in her mouth. The more that she talked about it the more uncomfortable she began to feel. But push through for the completion of the task at hand. _It's for the Dark Lord._ "Yes, I do. My father was a powerful wizard. He wouldn't just," she cleared her throat, "drop dead on his own accord." Her stomach started to twist into knots. She hoped that Slughorn would be willing to drop the topic after that.

"And who do you think is responsible?"

Apparently not.

Adrienne shrugged. She knew what he wanted to hear. She wasn't blind to what the papers said about her father's death. She wasn't blind to what they said about the death of her mother's next husband. Nor was she blind to what they said about the one that followed. She knew exactly what they said and what the gossip columnist thought happened, despite there being no actual evidence to support that idea. Powerful male wizards get married to this beautiful woman and they end up dead. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they thought happened to all seven of her mother's husbands; her father being the first. "I couldn't say, Professor. But it's a mystery for the ages. I can tell you that."

"A mystery indeed," he echoed.

They continued to talk, leaving the discussion of her father's death behind. Instead, they talked about Dragon's Blood and it's uses. They talked about her potions skills and where she had learned them. What she aspired to do aside from being a healer. Adrienne played into the questions. She laughed and smiled at the right times. However, all the while her small hands were shaking around the tea cup she held in them. And she was still shaking when their conversations ended and she made her way towards the common room.

"Adrienne."

She pulled her wand from her robe pocket and turned to the person that had called out to her. "Draco," she said releasing a breath that she didn't know she was holding in. She tucked her wand into her pocket. "I'm sorry."

He shrugged, his Prefect badge glinting as he did so. He had started to walk away, but then stopped. "Are you alright?" he questioned as he changed his direction and began to approach her.

"Fine," she replied tensely as she started away from him.

Draco caught up with her easily, his long legs carrying him towards her in no more than six steps. He grabbed her wrist, but immediately released her. He could feel her shaking and now that he was closer to her, he could see it as well. "Adrienne?"

She looked away from him, shrugging. "I'm fine."

"You're clearly not fine. I'm watching you shaking. Didn't you just have tea with Slughorn?" he questioned.

"Yes."

"What happened?"

Draco leaned back against the wall behind him, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched her. "I don't like him," the girl said with a pout. She felt mush like a child in doing so.

"Did he hurt you?" Draco questioned, an unfamiliar edge to his voice.

"No." She was quiet. "He only wanted to talk about my father. To talk about how everyone thinks my mother killed him."

A look that could have almost passed as sympathetic crossed over his face. "Oh, I am sorry." The dark skinned girl next to him shrugged, still shaking. Draco placed a soft hand on her shoulder, his fingertips rubbing her shoulder blade, awkwardly. He was not the type to comfort anyone.

Without thinking, certainly without thinking, she turned and buried her face in the collar of his shirt. Her hands clenched to the front of his grey jumper and she closed her eyes, inhaling deeply to try and calm herself and stop her shaking. However, it wasn't the calm breaths that she was taking that was calming to her. It was the citrusy scent that engulfed her suddenly. It was comforting to her.

Draco was startled by her sudden embrace, if that was what one could call it. However, he twisted his arm around her waist and rubbed her back, still awkwardly. He leaned back against the wall more fully as he stroked her back. Soon her shaking, lessened, but she wasn't sure that he had helped her all that much.

"I know she killed him," Adrienne confessed into the empty hall.

Draco opened his mouth to speak, but was unable to find anything to say in response to her confession. Kya Zabini was coldhearted, everyone knew that. He always saw her as a cold woman that did things that would be the best for her. Always looking out for number one.

"I know she killed them all."

"All of them?" Draco echoed, shock lacing his words.

"All seven of them. It shouldn't be too long before Dante…" she let her voice trail off and she buried her face deeper into the collar of his shirt.

Dante was husband number eight. Adrienne wasn't really sure why her mother kept doing what she was doing. They had more than enough money for them to live comfortably, more than comfortably. Hell, Adrienne and Blaise could live comfortably for the rest of their lives and to be honest so could their children. There was enough money; more than enough money. So why keep killing?

Draco didn't say anything, just continued to rub her back in small circular patterns, in a much less awkward way.

Eventually, she took a step back from him, his arm dropped from around her waist and to his side, her fists unclenching on his shirt. He could see the wrinkles that had formed where her hands were fisted. She ran her fingers through her dark hair, pushing it from her face and smoothing it.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, avoiding eye contact with him.

"Don't mention it," he replied.

From inside the castle, the clock struck midnight. Draco pushed himself off the wall and glanced at her. "I should escort you back to the common room," he told her. "Even though you are in the same house, Pansy will not hesitate to give you detention. Especially, because it's you," he told her, a smirk ghosted over his lips. "Come."

Adrienne trailed behind him with her hands in her pockets. The common room was only a short walk away and when they arrived she muttered the password and stepped into the room, knowing that he wasn't going to come with her. Needless to say, she was surprised to hear his footsteps inside of the common room behind her.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I live here?" he responded, the smirk evident on his lips now.

They reached the split in the staircase; one going to the right and one going to the left. Adrienne wanted to ask why he wasn't going to do – well whatever it is that he did at night. However, she decided against it. It wasn't for her to know. She didn't need to know. Without speaking, she started away from him, but Draco reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"Are you alright?" he questioned. In his quiet tone, she could hear a hint of concern.

"Oh, yeah. I'm okay."

"Adrienne?"

"I'm fine," she said with a soft shrug. Her action caused his light grasp on her wrist to release. "I've been living with it for years. I'll be okay."

With that, she moved down the staircase and away from Draco. Once in her dorm, she collapsed on her bed, not bothering to change out of her clothes. Instead, she rolled over and buried her face into her pillows.

However, she couldn't find sleep. Her thoughts traveled back to the conversation with Draco in the corridor. She couldn't shake the tingling feeling that had formed on her lower back. The same spot that Draco had been stroking in the corridor. That had been the first time since the announcement of their betrothal that she had been that close to him. Close enough to inhale his scent and close enough to feel his heart beating steadily in his ribcage. That had been the first time in as long as she had known him that he had offered her, or anyone as far as she knew, any type of comfort.

Had they had a moment?

Adrienne, tired from the conversation with Slughorn, pushed the thought from her head. She focused her breathing and began to lull herself to sleep.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hi! Thanks for reading! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. If you did, leave a review and let me know!


End file.
